Research report 2025 - Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion
A new window into the enzyme Nitrogenase that feeds the world
Authors
Sengupta, Kushal; Joyce, Justin P.; Decamps, Laure; Kang, Liqun; Bjornsson, Ragnar ; Rüdiger, Olaf; DeBeer, Serena
Departments
Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Energiekonversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr
Summary
The metalloenzyme nitrogenase helps microbes convert dinitrogen from the air into ammonia, a process essential for life, but still poorly understood. Using a new electrochemistry-based method combined with infrared spectroscopy, we observed changes in the enzyme’s active site in real time, including long-hypothesized protonation events and how carbon monoxide inhibits and later unbinds. Our approach provides a powerful new window into how this remarkable enzyme works at the molecular level.
